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1 54.L53  H91  An  address  upon  the 


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AN  ADDRESS 


UPON  THE  LATE 


JOSEPH  LEIDY,  M.D.,LL.D., 


HIS  UNIVERSITY  CAEEER. 


BY 
WILLIAM  HUNT,  M.D. 

Delivered  November  17tli,  1891, 

BEFORE  THE 

ALUMNI  AND  STUDENTS  OF  THE  MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT 
OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

COLLINS  PRINTING  HOUSE,  705  JATNE  STREET, 

1893. 


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intfjeCitpofi^etoPorfe 

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TWO  ADDRESSES 


JOSEPH  LEIDY,  M.D.,LL.D 


BY 
WILLIAM  HUNT,  M.D. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Open  Knowledge  Commons 


http://www.archive.org/details/addressuponlatejOOhunt 


c^^i^^i^^-' 


AN  ADDEESS 


UPON  THE  LATE 


JOSEPH  LEIDY,  M.D.,LL.D., 


HIS  UNIVERSITY  CAREER. 


BY 
WILLIAM  HUNT,  M.D. 

Delivered  NovemlDer  IVtli,  1891, 

BEFORE  THE 

ALUMNI  AND  STUDENTS  OF  THE  MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT 
OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
COLLINS  PRINTING  HOUSE,  705  JAYNE  STREET, 

1892. 


^^uJi. 


'i-!,^^,■^.  ?r/ 


Copyright,  1892. 

By  the  Alumni  Society  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the 

University  of  Pennsylvania. 


W3\ 


Dr.  Alfred  Stille,  in  introducing  the  speaker, 
said : — 

Gentlemen  :  Medical  Alumni  anb  Students  of  the  Uni- 
versity OF  Pennsylvania  : — 

We  are  assembled  to  listen  to  an  address  in  com- 
memoration of  the  late  Professor  of  Anatomy  in 
the  University.  You  will  recall  the  shock  that  was 
felt  throughout  the  whole  medical  profession  on  the 
announcement  that  Dr.  Leidy  was  dead. 

It  is  most  fitting  that  here  in  the  centre  of  the 
University  where  he  passed  so  many  years  of  his 
active  and  laborious,  and  yet  serene  and  unselfish 
life,  and  in  the  presence  of  those  whom  be  enlight- 
ened and  stimulated,  his  career  should  be  described 
by  one  who  was  familiar  with  his  character  and 
labors,  and  is  competent  to  portray  them. 

No  doubt  he  will  tell  you  that  Leidy,  though 
dead,  still  speaks  to  you.  His  living  voice,  indeed, 
is  silent  forever,  but  the  memory  of  the  great  works 
he  wrought  in  natural  science,  and  the  thoroughness 
and  impressiveness  of  his  teaching,  must  long  sur- 
vive to  stimulate  sincere  searchers  after  truth,  and  to 
prove  anew  that  the  most  consummate  attainments 
in  science  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  humility  of 
character  and  simplicity  of  life. 

Permit  me  to  ask  your  attention  to  the  address 
now  to  be  delivered  by  Dr.  William  Hunt. 

(  5) 


AK  ADDRESS. 


When  first  I  was  asked  to  speak  before  the 
alumni  about  Dr.  Leidy  I  declined,  because  I  had 
already  spoken  of  his  personal  history  at  that  re- 
markable meeting  held  at  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  upon  the  evening  of  the  12th  of  May, 
1891,  only  thirteen  days  after  his  death.  I  say 
remarkable  meeting,  for  it  was  one  of  true  emotion. 
Science  was  subdued  in  sorrow.  The  hall  was 
filled  with  people  of  both  sexes  ready  to  mingle 
their  tears  in  mutual  sympathy  at  the  realization 
of  the  fact  that  each  and  all  had  sustained  an 
irreparable  loss. 

It  was  as  much  as  we  seven  could  do  to  get 
safely  through  our  allotted  tasks,  and  the  others 
who  spoke  were  equally  affected.  The  programme 
named  the  following  seven,  and  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  minutes  were  occupied  by  each  one  : — 

(  7) 


William  Hunt,  M.D.,  "  Personal  History." 
HARPasoN  Allen,   M.D.,    "  Work    in    Vertebrate 

Anatomy." 
Henry  C.  Chapman,  M.D.,  "  Work  in  Invertebrate 

Anatomy." 
Prof.  Angelo  Heilprin,    "Work  in   Paleontology 

and  Geology." 
Joseph  Willcox,  "  Work  in  Mineralogy." 
James  Darrach,  M.D.,  "Work  in  Botany." 
Edward  J.  Nolan,  M.D.,  "Personal  Character  and 

Services  to  the  Academy." 

Here  are  six  branches  of  science  mentioned  in 
this  catalogue  concerning  which,  if  an  ordinary 
man  of  science  makes  a  name  in  one  of  them,  he 
and  others  consider  his  life  well  spent,  and  yet  Dr. 
Leidy  was  an  expert  and  authority  in  all. 

Now,  this  is  what  made  me,  on  second  thought, 
accept  the  invitation  to  appear  before  you  to-night. 
A  small  edition  of  my  remarks  was  printed  for 
private  circulation.  In  it  I  use  the  above  unique 
programme  for  a  preface,  for  nothing  more  was  re- 
quired, and  in  it  I  also  fortunately  say,  "The 
personal  history  of  Dr.  Leidy  is  all  that  has  been 
assigned  to  me  to  talk  about  for  these  few  minutes, 
and,  therefore,  I  leave  to  others  the  task  of  speak- 
ing of  his  University  scientific  career."  That 
career,  however,  was  not  sufficiently  spoken  of,  so 
(  8  ) 


pressing  were  other  matters,  aud  thus  I  have  my 
opportunity.  The  University  career  and  other 
allied  matters  that  may  occur  to  me  in  my  intimate 
association  with  Dr.  Leidy,  will,  therefore,  occupy 
us  this  evening. 

But,  before  going  on,  there  is  one  to  whom  full 
thanks  must  be  given  for  setting  forth  Dr.  Leidy's 
work  in  his  University  professorship,  as  well  as 
his  other  vast  work  in  science. 

This  was  not  done  on  the  evening  referred  to, 
but  the  Academy,  whilst  retaining  in  its  possession 
the  almost  impromptu  essays  of  the  evening,  con- 
cluded, by  resolution,  not  to  publish  them,  but  to 
have  prepared  a  more  complete  memoir  for  publi- 
cation in  its  proceedings.  This  task  was  assigned 
to  Professor  Henry  C.  Chapman,  now  of  the  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College,  but  who  was  for  a  long  time 
connected  with  this  University,  from  which  he  is 
a  graduate  as  his  grandfather  was,  and  chiefly  in 
association  with  his  beloved  friend,  Dr.  Joseph 
Leidy.  In  the  last  number  of  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  this  more  com- 
pleted memoir  appears.  Right  well  has  the  task 
been  done,  and  great  labor  was  expended  in  the 
doing  of  it.  At  the  conclusion  the  writer  says : 
"  The  following  catalogue  of  volumes,  papers,  and 

(9) 


communications,  published  by  Dr.  Joseph  Leidy, 
illustrates  the  extent,  variety,  and  value  of  his 
contributions  to  science.  "  And  then  follows  a 
bibliography  containing  the  titles  of,  and  references 
to,  jive  hundred  and  fifty-three  of  these  books, 
papers,  and  essays,  published  from  the  time  just  as 
he  had  reached  manhood,  almost  unto  the  day  of 
his  death.  Think  of  this,  you  men,  who  have 
groaned  at  one  graduating  essay !  There  is  another 
thing  to  reflect  upon.  I  take  it,  that  possibly 
with  the  exception  of  some  little  pay  for  his  early 
translations  and  pay  for  his  Treatise  on  Human 
Anatomy,  all  or  nearly  all  of  this  vast  literary, 
critical,  searching,  scientific  work  was  done  with- 
out pecuniary  fee  or  reward.  It  may  be  that  is 
the  reason  most  of  you  do  not  like  that  kind  of 
work,  and  my  jibe  is  unjust.  I  am  sure  I  have 
often  said  to  myself,  after  toiling  for  days  and 
nights  at  some  paper  of  scientific  or  literary  research 
and  interest,  and  then  getting  a  petty  check  for  it, 
or,  what  is  more  common,  nothing  at  all,  "  What 
fools  we  mortals  be."  To  be  sure,  we  do  not  do 
our  great  worJc  for  money,  but  the  "  Bes  angusta 
domi"  are  always  calling  for  bread  from  some- 
where. 

Dr.  Leidy  was  born  on  September  9th,  1823, 
(  10  ) 


and  died  on  April  30th,  1891,  in  the  GStli  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  of  German  extraction,  the  son 
of  Philip  Leidy,  a  hatter,  of  North  Third  Street, 
Philadelphia,  and  Catharine,  his  wife.  The  mother 
died  while  he  was  yet  a  baby.  The  father  married 
Christiana  Mellick,  a  sister  of  his  first  wife.  She 
proved  to  be  a  most  loving  and  faithful  mother  to 
her  stepson,  and  he  often  said  that  he  owed  all  he 
was  to  her. 

How  he  began  very  early  to  notice  natural  ob- 
jects of  every  kind,  to  roam  in  the  fields  and  the 
woods,  and  upon  the  streams  is  fully  noticed  in 
the  sketches  of  him  already  published. 

For  this  occasion  we  will  take  up  his  life  when 
he  began  to  study  medicine.  He  did  not  do  this 
without  opposition  from  his  father,  although  his 
mother  favored  the  project. 

Finally  the  boy  and  the  mother  won.  In  those 
days  all  students  of  medicine  had  to  have  a  pre- 
ceptor in  name,  if  not  in  fact.  Leidy  entered  the 
office  of  Dr.  James  McClintock,  a  noted  lecturer 
on  anatomy.  He  did  not  remain  in  that  office 
throughout  his  pupilage,  but  for  some  reason  left 
it  and  entered  with  Dr.  Paul  B.  Goddard,  a  most 
noted  anatomist,  author,  and  teacher,  a  Lecturer 
and  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  this  University ; 

(  11) 


a  genius,  well  traiued  by  nature  and  opportunity 
in  the  use  of  his  perceptive  qualities,  and  withal 
very  congenial  and  instructive  to  a  young  man 
having  the  receptive  temperament  of  Dr.  Leidy. 

Dr.  Leidy  graduated  in  1844.  His  thesis 
showed  his  tendencies.  It  was  upon  "  The  Com- 
parative Anatomy  of  the  Eye  of  Vertebrated 
Animals." 

He  became  prosector  at  the  University  for  Pro- 
fessor Horner,  who  filled  the  Anatomical  Chair. 
For  one  year  (1846)  he  left  the  University  to  take 
the  place  of  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the 
Franklin  Medical  College,  a  new  institution  in 
which  Dr.  Paul  B.  Goddard,  his  former  preceptor, 
whom  he  thought  it  was  his  duty  to  follow,  was 
Professor  of  Anatomy.  The  school  had  but  a 
short  life,  and  the  doctor  soon  returned  to  his  for- 
mer place  with  Dr.  Horner.  With  this  exception 
he  never  broke  his  allegiance  to  the  University 
from  his  graduation  until  his  death.  He  had 
several  great  temptations,  notably  one  of  a  pro- 
fessorship in  Harvard,  but,  after  much  considera- 
tion, he  chose  to  stand  by  his  old  colors. 

It  was  at  this  time  (1846)  that  I  began  the 
study  of  medicine  with  the  late  Dr.  George  B. 
Wood,  then  in  his  prime,  as  my  preceptor.     Had 
(  12) 


it  not  been  for  such  a  man  as  he  was,  together 
with  the  introduction  of  some  young  blood,  as  in 
the  case  of  John  Neill,  the  energetic  Lecturer  and 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  and  Joseph  Leidy  the 
prosector,  I  can  assure  you  that  the  University 
Medical  School  at  that  time  was  in  a  state  of  "  in- 
nocuous desuetude,"  or,  if  you  choose,  of  medical 
dotage  or  senility.  This  is  said  with  no  disrespect, 
but  simply  as  an  illustration  of  the  axiom,  "  that 
few  die  and  none  resign ;"  the  school  was  living 
on  the  past ;  and  with  few  exceptions  we  sought 
our  information  outside  of,  instead  of  within  it. 
There  were  several  corps  of  first-rate  young  teach- 
ers on  the  outskirts,  most  of  whom  rose  to  distin- 
guished positions  afterwards.  Dr.  Wood  knew 
these  well,  and  through  his  students  patronized 
the  practical  branches  without  stint.  This  was 
almost  a  heresy,  but  the  fact  is  that  Dr.  Wood  at 
that  early  day  was  a  pioneer  in  the  present  methods 
of  teaching. 

He  was  always  practical  and  demonstrative,  and 
being  blessed  with  wealth  he  spared  nothing  to 
illustrate  what  was  worth  knowing.  His  materia 
medica  lectures  were  illustrated  with  medical 
plants  in  profusion  from  his  own  green-houses, 
and  when  he  became  Professor  of  Practice  in  1849, 

(  13  ) 


Dr.  Leidy  went  to  Europe  with  him  in  order  to 
assist  him  to  make  a  pathological  collection.  We 
have  what  I  may  call  the  remnant  of  that  collec- 
tion in  the  museum  of  the  University  now.  Dr. 
Leidy  mounted  and  had  charge  of  the  early  speci- 
mens, and  after  he  became  Professor  of  Anatomy, 
they  fell  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Levick  and  my- 
self. When  I  go  through  the  museum  now  I  still 
recognize  some  of  my  old  work.  Understand, 
besides  being  kept  up  by  importations  from  abroad 
during  Dr.  Wood's  incumbency  of  the  Chair  of 
Practice,  the  collection  was  constantly  enriched  by 
contributions  from  home.  Dr.  Leidy,  the  year  be- 
fore, had  gone  to  Europe  with  Dr.  Horner. 
Young  as  he  was,  he  had  already  won  such  a 
reputation  in  science  that  he  was  received  every- 
where with  eclat  by  the  most  noted  savants  both 
old  and  young.  Horner's  lectures,  now  enriched 
by  Leidy's  magnificent  dissections,  and  John 
Neill's  practical  recapitulations  in  the  evening, 
made  the  study  of  anatomy  a  pleasure  instead  of 
a  toil,  and  in  that  branch  also  we  now  got  more 
from  within  the  building  than  from  without. 

You  must  bear  in  mind  that  what  I  personally 
have  knowledge  of  in  my  intimate   association 
with    Dr.   Leidy   mostly  happened    at    the    old 
(  14  ) 


building  in  Ninth  Street,  where  the  Post-office 
now  stands.  Owing  to  the  failure  of  Professor 
Horner's  health  in  1852,  Dr.  Leidy  was  appointed 
by  the  trustees  to  finish  the  course  of  lectures  for 
that  year.  In  1853  Professor  Horner  died,  and 
Dr.  Leidy,  then  only  thirty  years  of  age,  was, 
after  a  sharp  contest,  elected  Professor  of  Anatomy 
in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  appointed 
his  old  friend.  Dr.  Fitzwilliam  Sargent,  his  De- 
monstrator of  Anatomy,  but  he  only  served  for 
one  term.  Dr.  Sargent  left  Philadelphia  and  spent 
the  rest  of  his  days  in  Italy  and  Paris,  now  and 
then  paying  a  visit  to  this  country.  He  has  re- 
cently died,  but  has  left  to  the  world  a  son,  a  most 
distinguished  artist,  John  S.  Sargent.  Dr.  Leidy 
in  1854  chose  me  for  his  successor.  I  filled  the 
place  as  Demonstrator  and  Lecturer  for  ten  years, 
and  hence  arose  my  close  intimacy  with  our  great 
professor,  both  as  a  sitter  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel 
in  science,  and  as  a  companion  and  friend. 

Untiring  industry  and  systematic  punctuality 
were  the  secrets  of  Dr.  Leidy's  life,  and  of  its 
great  results.  I  never  even  by  chance  dropped 
in  upon  him  at  his  home,  or  in  the  University, 
and  found  him  idle.  He  was  always  at  work, 
and   mostly  at  important  work;   but,  whatever 

(  15  ) 


the  work  might  be,  he  would  stop  and  explain, 
or  go  on  and  explain,  and  having,  as  he  thought  at 
least,  an  appreciative  listener,  I  always  found  my- 
self learning  something  that  I  did  not  know 
before.  There  was  never  any  pretence  at  mystery, 
or  any  seeking  for  seclusion.  Are  not  these  quali- 
ties, after  all,  among  the  real  distinctions  between 
genius  and  mediocrity  ? 

My,  my  !  think  of  the  time  most  of  us  waste  ! 
Leidy  took  his  holidays  mindful  of  the  old 
precept,  "All  work  and  no  play,"  but  his  play 
even  was  but  a  variation  of  his  home  work,  the 
sea,  the  mountains,  and  the  woods  being  his  play- 
grounds. Some  of  his  most  beautiful  and  in- 
teresting contributions  to  knowledge  arose  from 
these  recreations. 

Two  rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  the  old  Uni- 
versity, with  a  passage-way  leading  to  the  museum, 
the  lecture,  and  dissecting-rooms,  were  the  seat  of 
Dr.  Leidy's  labors  on  Ninth  Street.  In  a  cor- 
ner of  the  passage-way  near  the  window  were 
Fred.  Schafhirt's  tables,  where  he  dissected  and 
prepared  reptiles,  birds,  and  mammals,  and  ate 
Schweitzer  and  drank  schnaps,  and  sang  German 
sentimental  and  patriotic  songs.  In  the  room  ad- 
joining was  Leidy,  may  be  dissecting  a  subject, 
(  16  ) 


and  waited  upon  by  the  noiseless  Johnny  Brown, 
and  the  hinkende  Mepliistopheleau  Bob  Nash. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  splendor  of  Leidy's  dis- 
sections. Call  to  mind  you  who  remember  them,  in 
his  palmy  days,  the  display  of  the  diaphragm,  the 
muscles  of  the  abdomen  and  chest,  and  the  wonders 
of  the  hand,  the  thoracic  and  abdominal  viscera, 
and  the  clear  and  concise  explanation  and  exhibi- 
tions of  the  human  brain !  Leidy  did  very  little 
in  topographical  anatomy  (that  he  left  to  his  de- 
monstrators) so  tliat  what  he  displayed  was  the 
thing  itself,  whether  it  was  bone,  muscle,  ligament, 
tendon,  viscus,  vessel,  or  nerve,  and  he  spared 
nothijig  that  came  in  the  way  of  showing  that 
thing.  He  was  a  fine  free-hand  draughtsman, 
and  made  much  use  of  the  blackboard  to  enforce 
his  demonstrations. 

I  need  but  refer  you  to  his  work  on  the  rhizo- 
pods  to  convince  you  that  he  was  also  an  advanced 
artist  in  the  delineation  and  colorino;  of  micro- 
scopic  objects  than  which,  in  the  whole  range  of 
artistic  procedures,  there  is  nothing  more  difficult 
and  absolutely  requiring  most  special  knowledge. 

It  was  in  these  rooms  (about  1858)  that  the  fossil 
bones  of  the  great  lizard,  the  Hadrosaurus  Foulkii, 
were  studied  and  placed  in  position.     They  had 

(  17  ) 


recently  been  discovered  in  the  marl  near  Wood- 
bury, New  Jersey,  and  were  presented  to  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  by  Wm.  Parker 
Foulke,  then  one  of  its  most  active  members. 
The  studies  of  Dr.  Leidy  gave  Mr.  Waterhouse 
Hawkins  an  easy  key  for  the  restoration  of  the 
skeleton  of  the  animal,  which  now  forms  such  a 
conspicuous  object  in  the  collection  of  the  Academy. 

Some  years  before  this,  and  before  Dr.  Leidy  was 
professor  (about  1846),  he  made  his  most  important 
discovery,  as  far  as  regards  the  health  and  happi- 
ness of  his  fellow-beings,  and  also  one  at  the 
present  moment  involving  questions  of  the  gravest 
import  in  international  comity,  and  seriously  at- 
tracting the  attention  of  sovereigns,  presidents,  and 
ministers,  millions  of  money  being  at  stake  in  the 
results.  I  allude  to  the  discovery  of  the  trichina 
spiralis  in  the  hog,  the  study  of  which  the  dis- 
coverer followed  out  in  these  rooms  for  years  at 
every  opportunity. 

The  trichina  is  a  small  nematoid  worm  about 
one-eighth  of  an  inch  long.  Paget  found  it  in 
human  muscles  in  1835,  and  Owen  described 
and  named  it,  but  they,  nor  no  one  else  knew 
or  suspected  from  whence  it  came.  Dr.  Leidy, 
with  characteristic  modesty,  in  his  description 
(  18  ) 


of  it  in  Pepper's  System  of  Medicine  and  calling 
himself  "the  writer,"  says,  "In  1846  the  parasite 
was  found  by  the  writer  in  the  muscles  of  the  hog, 
but  neither  he  nor  others  for  some  time  afterwards 
suspected  the  significance  of  the  discovery."  We 
now  know  that  the  immature  trichina  are  swal- 
lowed by  man  whilst  eating  raw  or  underdone 
pork,  the  sick  hog  having  most  probably  gotten 
them  from  devouring  infected  rats,  and  that  the 
embryos  undergo  rapid  development  in  the  in- 
testines, and  actively  migrate  in  myriads  to  the 
human  muscles,  thus  giving  rise  to  the  painful, 
often  fatal,  disease,  trichinosis.  Dr.  Leidy  says  a 
single  ounce  of  the  infected  meat  will  often  con- 
tain from  50,000  to  100,000  of  the  worms.  (I 
was  with  and  assisted  Dr.  Leidy  once  at  the  dis- 
section of  a  man  who  had  died  of  trichinosis.)  He 
also  says  in  his  account,  "The  writer  may  also  add 
that  it  was  in  a  slice  of  boiled  ham,  from  which  he 
had  partly  made  his  dinner,  that  he  first  discovered 
trichina  in  the  hog." 

The  simple  preventive  is  :  1st,  never  to  eat  in- 
fected pork ;  you  may  suspect  it  when  you  see 
very  small  white  specks  in  the  meat,  these  may  be 
the  trichina  capsules ;  and  2d,  whether  infected  or 
not,  never  eat  pork  or  any  of  its  belongings  unless 

(  19  ) 


it  is  thoroughly  cooked,  for  a  "  boiling  temperature 
surely  kills  all  animal  parasites."  The  same  may 
be  said  of  other  meats  infected  with  other  para- 
sites, Europeans,  especially  Germans,  are  much 
more  inclined  to  eat  raw,  or  half  done,  pork  than 
we  are.  The  great  German  helminthologists,  Leuc- 
kart,  Cobbold,  and  others  have  fully  acknow- 
ledged the  discovery  as  due  to  Dr.  Leidy,  and 
cheerfully  accord  him  the  credit  of  it. 

Just  as  I  had  written  this,  I  read  from  a  morn- 
ing paper  the  following,  and  I  repeat  it  both  for 
your  information  and  consolation  : — 

Paris,  Oct.  29,  1891. — The  Senate  to-day  declared  urgent 
the  discussion  on  the  question  of  duty  on  salt  meats.  Roche, 
Minister  of  Commerce,  read  a  number  of  reports,  showing 
that  trichinosis  did  not  exist  in  Great  Britain  and  Belgium, 
which  countries  were  freely  importing  American  pork.  The 
existence  of  this  disease  in  Germany,  therefore,  he  said, 
was  due  to  native  meats.  All  learned  bodies,  Minister  Roche 
declared,  have  agreed  that  American  meats  were  innocuous, 
and  the  admission  of  these  meats  into  France  would  be  the 
greatest  boon  to  the  working  people  of  the  country.  It  was 
more  needful  to  beware  of  German  meats  entering  France 
duty  free.  Furthermore,  in  spite  of  the  prohibition  on  Am- 
erican meats,  they  actually  entered  France  by  indirect  means. 
Other  members  having  spoken  for  and  against  the  bill, 
the  Government  demanded  its  adoption,  on  the  ground  that 
the  demand  of  the  United  States  was  legitimate,  and  that 
(  '-^0) 


France  ought  lo  comply  with  it  in  the  interests  of  the  trade 
of  the  two  countries. 

The  motion  was  then  adopted  by  a  vote  of  1 79  to  64,  and 
the  Senate  proceeded  to  the  discussion  of  the  clauses  of  the 
measure. 

I  wonder  whether  the  sovereigns,  presidents,  and 
ministers  aforesaid  know  that  the  primary  cause 
of  the  present  differences  was  the  quiet  man  from 
Filbert  Street  ? 

It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  discuss  Dr.  Leidy's 
contributions  to  a  better  understanding  of  human 
anatomy  ;  in  fact,  it  would  make  a  respectable  course 
of  lectures  to  do  so,  and  I  can  but  indicate  them. 

He  spent  his  time  at  the  University  in  eluci- 
dating and  illustrating  them,  M'henever  he  could 
spare  it  from  the  preparation  of  his  lectures  in  or- 
dinary course.  You  will  find  them  fully  set  forth 
in  his  admirable  treatise  on  Human  Anatomy,  which 
he  calls  Elementary. 

I  was  with  him  during  many  of  these  investiga- 
tions, and  many  charming  hours  we  have  spent  to- 
gether in  discussing  them.  I  need  but  allude  to 
the  comparative  anatomy  of  the  liver^  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Purkinjean  corpuscles  in  bone,  and  the 
development  of  the  intermaxillary  bone. 

The   structure  of   the  temporal  bone — here   I 

(  21  ) 


must  stop  for  a  moment  to  ask  who  would  have 
thought  of  anything  new  in  the  description  of  that 
much-studied  remarkable  bone,  and  in  the  anat- 
omy of  the  ear  ?  And  yet,  see  Dr.  Leidy's  won- 
derful display  of  them  in  specimens  from  his  hand, 
now  in  the  museum,  and  read  carefully  his  accounts 
of  them.  There  was  a  time,  it  seems  to  me,  when 
he  always  had  a  temporal  bone  in  one  hand  and  a 
knife  in  the  other.  He  aided  me  to  select  Politzer's 
fine  case  of  ear  specimens  at  the  Centennial,  which 
I  purchased  for  the  Mutter  Museum,  and  when 
we  obtained  Hyrtl's  preparations  of  the  compara- 
tive anatomy  of  the  ear,  he  was  delighted.  I  must 
confess,  however,  that,  for  preparations  of  the 
human  temporal  bone,  I  greatly  prefer  those  by 
Leidy  himself,  our  own  great  master ;  for,  v/ith- 
out  egotism,  I  profess  to  belong  to  the  few  who 
know  what  a  good  preparation  is  when  they  see  it. 
Dr.  Leidy's  description  of  the  vocal  membranes 
of  the  larynx  is  admirable,  and  that  of  the  struc- 
ture of  the  larynx  and  the  attachment  of  its 
muscles  is  equally  so.  Thus,  this  many-sided 
man  went  on.  To  quote  Dr.  Chapman,  "  The 
variety,  extent,  and  exactness  of  Dr.  Leidy's  know- 
ledge of  nature  were  unsurpassed,  if  equalled 
by  any  living  naturalist.  It  was  this  famil- 
(  22) 


iarity  with  all  natural  objects,  which  invariably 
impressed  those  brought  in  personal  contact  with 
him.  If  some  minute  infusorian  were  casually 
mentioned  in  conversation,  one  would  have  sup- 
posed from  his  remarks  that  he  had  devoted  his 
life  to  the  study  of  the  protozoa ;  an  intestinal 
worm  being  the  subject  of  discussion — from  his 
description  of  its  structure,  origin,  and  mode  of 
life,  it  would  have  been  inferred  that  helmin- 
thology  was  his  exclusive  specialty.  The  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  him  dissect  an  insect,  mollusk, 
or  vertebrate,  would  soon  convince  one  that  he 
was  a  most  skilful  anatomist.  A  fragment  of 
rock,  a  plant,  a  shell  submitted  to  him,  called 
forth  criticisms  worthy  of  the  professional  miner- 
alogist, botanist,  or  conchologist." 

"Profound  as  was  his  knowledge  of  living  plants 
and  animals,  it  can  be  truly  said  that  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  extinct  forms  of  life  was  equally  so. 
Indeed,  it  was  his  great  familiarity  with  the  ex- 
istent types  of  vegetable  and  animal  life,  that  so 
eminently  qualified  him  to  determine  fossil  forms." 

When  the  Biological  Department  was  established 
Dr.  Leidy  took  a  most  active  interest  in  it,  and  his 
work  over  here  was  much  increased.  He  was  a 
director  in  it  and  the  Professor  of  Zoology.  When  it 

(  23  ) 


was  fully  organized,  Dr.  Jayne  tells  me,  the  doctor 
always  occupied  the  chair  and  directed  the  pro- 
ceedings. It  was  the  hope  of  his  life,  Dr.  Jayne 
also  says,  to  bring  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences and  the  Biological  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity closely  together.  That  hope  has  not  been 
realized  as  yet.  Dr.  Leidy's  studies  of  the  para- 
sites and  his  work  on  the  tertiary  fossils  of  Florida 
were  done  in  the  Biological  building.  Dr.  Dolley 
is  now  engaged  in  classifying  and  arranging  the 
former.  I  had  ample  evidence  the  other  day  of 
the  Biological  being  now  able  to  stand  alone,  not- 
withstanding Dr.  Leidy's  disappointments  about 
it  and  the  Academy.  The  crowds  of  enthusiastic 
young  men  and  some  women  (I  am  glad  to  say), 
each  at  their  places  at  the  tables,  in  the  great 
working-room,  and  each  with  a  microscope  work- 
ing out  the  lesson  for  the  day,  gave  full  proofs  of 
prosperity. 

Dr.  Jayne's  letter  concludes  :  "  His  love  for  us 
was  especially  great,  and  he  is  missed  every  day. 
We  expect  to  see  his  familiar  form  turn  the 
corner  of  the  street,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
realize  that  another  has  his  room  and  another 
gives  his  lectures." 

At  the  Veterinary  Department  too,  where  the 
(  24) 


doctor  was  Professor  of  Zoology,  he  was  equally 
valued.  No  one  had  a  more  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  structure  and  history  of  the  domestic  ani- 
mals treated  there  than  he.  His  knowledge  of  the 
horse  from  its  origin  in  prehistoric  days,  gained 
from  a  profound  study  of  the  marvellous  chano-es 
its  fossil  remains  show  that  it  had  undergone  be- 
fore the  peerless  animal  of  to-day  was  produced, 
was  incomparable.  When  I  go  over  all  of  these 
matters  I  ask  myself  the  question,  "  Did  we  work 
the  doctor  too  hard  ?" 

Were  I  to  write  to  Swarthmore  and  to  the 
Wagner  Free  Institute,  I  know  that  I  would  get 
the  same  kind  of  answers.  A  pretty  Swarthmore 
story  is  told  of  Dr.  Leidy,  showing  his  dislike  of 
inflicting  unnecessary  pain  upon  or  taking  tlie 
lives  of  animals  he  used  for  demonstration  at  his 
lectures.  On  a  certain  Saturday  he  caught  some 
small  creatures  from  the  brooks  and  creeks  near 
by  for  this  purpose,  and  when  he  was  thi'ough  with 
them  he  laid  them  aside  intending  to  return  them 
to  their  native  streams.  He  forgot  to  do  this,  and 
took  the  train  for  home.  On  Sunday  morning  he 
thought  of  them,  and  from  their  habits  he  knew 
they  would  not  live  till  Monday  unless  furnished 
with  water.      Car  communication   with   Swarth- 

(  25) 


more  was  slow  on  Sunday  at  that  time.  The 
morning  train  had  gone^  so  the  doctor  walked  all 
the  way  to  Swarthmore  and  rescued  his  prisoners.^ 

'  The  Wagner  Institute  expressed  their  loss  in  the  fol- 
lowing minute : — 

With  feelings  of  deep  sorrow  we  record  the  death  of 
Dr.  Joseph  Leidy,  who,  for  the  past  six  years,  has  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  science  work  of  our  Institute,  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Faculty,  and  Director  of  the  Museum. 

The  death  of  this  true  and  honest  man,  as  gentle  as  he 
was  strong,  as  humble  as  he  was  great,  is  to  the  whole 
civilized  world,  as  it  is  to  our  own  country,  the  loss  of  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  scientists  of  the  day ;  while  to 
Philadelphia,  the  city  of  his  birth  and  his  life-long  home, 
it  is  the  loss,  not  only  of  one  of  her  greatest  men,  but  as 
well  of  a  true  and  faithful  son,  who  loyally  spent  his  whole 
life  in  her  service,  and  who  died,  as  he  lived,  in  entire 
devotion  to  duty,  wholly  forgetful  of  himself,  and  mindful 
only  of  the  welfare  of  others. 

To  the  Wagner  Free  Institute  of  Science  the  loss  occa- 
sioned by  his  death  is  beyond  repair.  The  place  he  has 
left  vacant  cannot  be  filled.  To  him,  more  than  to  any  other 
man,  and  to  his  good  guidance  more  than  to  anything  else,  is 
due  whatever  has  been  accomplished  by  the  Institute,  since 
the  death  of  its  founder,  in  the  organization  and  conduct  of 
its  work  in  the  cause  of  science.  It  is  impossible  to  express 
in  words  the  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  him ;  only  by 
deeds  can  we  give  expression  to  it,  by  striving  to  so  carry 
out  the  work  which  he  has  planned  for  us  with  such  con- 
(  26  ) 


How  the  doctor  mourned  the  loss  of  his  nucleus 
of  a  museum  of  natural  history  at  Swarthmore 
when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire  a  few  years  ago ! 
He  had  grand  but  simple  ideas  of  what  a  museum 
should  be  for  the  purposes  of  instruction,  and 
many  of  them  are  now  being  carried  out  at  the 
Biological.  I  could  say  much  on  this  subject,  but 
to  enter  upon  it  now  would  take  up  too  much  time 
for  a  discourse  like  that  I  am  giving. 

The  only  instance  I  ever  knew  of  Dr.  Leidy's 
departure  from  strict  truth  was,  to  a  medical  man's 
way  of  looking  at  it,  a  very  amusing  one.  Some 
years  ago  he  came  to  my  house  in  quite  an  enthu- 
siastic mood,  and  said,  "  Dr.  Hunt,  do  you  know 
that  they  are  moving  the  bodies  from  a  very  old 
burying-ground  down  town  to  make  way  for  im- 
provements ?"  "  Yes,"  I  said.  "  Well,"  he  went  on, 
"  two  bodies  turned  into  adipocere  are  there  [this  is 
an  ammoniacal  soap,  and  the  bodies  are  commonly 
called  petrified  bodies].  They  have  been  buried 
for  nearly  a  hundi-ed  years,  an  old  man  and  an  old 
woman ;  nobody  claims  them,  and  they  would  be 
rare  and  instructive  additions  to  our  collections. 

summate  skill,  that  it  may  become  a  living  memorial  of  his 

earnest  labors,  his  broad  intelligence,  and  his  commanding 

knowledge. 

(  27  ) 


Now,  I  think  I  can  get  them,  and  if  you  will  take 
one  for  the  Miitter  Museum,  I  will  take  the  other 
for  the  Wistar  and  Horner  Museum."  All  right, 
I  said,  I  shall  be  delighted.  So  down  Leidy  went, 
full  of  the  idea  of  securing  the  prizes.  When  he 
spoke  to  the  superintendent  or  caretaker  of  the 
ground,  that  gentleman  put  on  airs,  talked  of 
violating  graves,  etc.;  so  the  discomfited  doctor 
was  about  going  away  quite  chapfallen.  Just 
then  the  caretaker  touched  him  significantly  on 
the  elbow  and  said,  "I  tell  you  what  I  do ;  I  give 
bodies  up  to  the  order  of  relatives  !"  The  doctor 
immediately  took  the  hint.  He  went  home,  hired 
a  furniture  wagon,  and  armed  the  driver  with  an 
order  reading,  "  Please  deliver  to  bearer  the  bodies 
of  my  grandfather  and  grandmother." 

This  brought  the  coveted  prizes,  and  one  is  now 
in  each  of  the  museums,  and  the  virtuous  caretaker 
was  amply  compensated. 

But  they  all  do  it.  The  great  Hyrtl,  of  Vienna, 
he,  whose  work  on  Topographical  Anatomy,  I  often 
say  is  my  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend,  sent  us 
over  a  catalogue  some  time  ago  of  articles  he  wished 
us  to  purchase,  and  with  great  effrontery  or  great 
honesty,  possibly  that  we  should  not  doubt  the 
verification,  has  these  words  affixed  to  the  state- 

(  28  ) 


ment  of  the  skull  of  some  notable  character, 
"Stolen  by  myself."  I  had  occasion  to  write  some 
lines  to  a  lady,  not  long  since,  one  who  was  much 
interested  in  a  certain  mortuary,  and  this  is  the 
way,  in  strict  confidence,  I  tell  her  about  this 
peculiar  tendency  in  men  medical. 

I  admit  the  fact,  you  will  notice,  and  discuss 
the  law — that  is,  the  metaphysics  of  it,  for  I  be- 
lieve jurists  have  frequently  declared  there  is  no 
property  in  a  dead  body. 

Now,  I'll  tell  you  a  secret, 

That  makes  me  grieve ! 
The  fellows  who  post 

Will  always  thieve ! 

Though  the  corpus  delicti  is  not  quite  clear, 

For  'tis  plain  a  dead  body  can't  say,  "  I  am  here," 

Or  "It  is  I,"  "homo  sum,"  "me  too,"  or  "Ego," 

For  all  are  agreed  he's  above,  or  below. 

So  the  posters  don't  worry  as  to  tuum  and  meum. 

But  take  the  specimens  for  the  museum. 

I  am  in  negotiation  for  some  mummies  now. 
The  Egyptians  hold  on  to  them  more  tightly  than 
they  did  to  the  Israelites.  I  have  personally,  and 
to  my  regret,  found  out  that  they  will  not  give 
them  up  to  the  order  of  relatives. 

(  29) 


What  a  delight  it  was  to  take  an  excursion  with 
Dr.  Leidy  as  one  of  the  company  !  It  made  no 
difference  in  what  direction ;  near  home,  as  down 
in  the  Neck,  where  the  nelumbium  grew,  or  upon 
the  Wissahickon  Hills,  or  even  about  the  city.  I 
have  heard  him  talk  on  cobblestones  in  a  most 
instructive  and  delightful  way.  The  stones  of 
various  buildings,  the  mineral  and  fungus  deposits 
on  the  walls  and  pavements,  the  various  layers  of 
soil  where  cellars  were  being  dug,  the  loams,  clays, 
etc.,  he  knew  all  about  them.  Sometimes  we  went 
to  the  mountains ;  sometimes  to  the  coal  regions  ; 
sometimes  to  the  sea.  In  all  he  was  equally  at  home. 
The  botany,  the  geology,  the  paleontology,  and  min- 
eralogy were  at  his  finger-ends,  and  without  any  more 
assumption  of  superior  knowledge  than  an  infant. 

How  far  he  was  from  sordid  thoughts  !  Like 
Agassiz,  he  had  no  time  to  make  money  ! 

On  several  occasions,  when  passing  through 
places  rich  in  mineral  deposits,  and  full  of  the 
roar  and  bustle  of  industry,  some  one  has  said : 
"  Why,  Joe,  you  knew  all  about  this  years  ago ; 
you  told  me  about  it.  Why  did  you  not  buy  some 
of  the  land  ?"  "  Well,  now,  do  you  know  I  never 
thought  of  its  having  any  money  value  ;  and 
should  I  have  done  so,  I  did  not  have  the  money  !" 
(30) 


In  September,  1881,  we  made  a  memorable 
excursion  to  Virginia.  Its  piirijose  was  to  dedi- 
cate one  of  the  splendid  columns  and  a  stalactite 
to  Dr.  Leidy  in  the  Cave  of  Luray,  and  to  visit 
the  Natural  Bridge.  The  weather  was  fine,  and 
the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  party  were  much 
interested.  One  beautiful  Sunday  morning  we 
went  into  the  cave,  and  after  inspecting  its  won- 
ders we  assembled  in  the  chamber  containing  the 
objects  to  be  dedicated.  Miss  Ally  Leidy,  the 
doctor's  daughter,  was  furnished  with  a  bottle 
filled  with  clear  water  from  one  of  the  pools  in  the 
cave.  She  was  to  break  it  at  the  appropriate 
moment  on  the  column,  in  the  same  manner  as  at 
the  launching  and  naming  of  a  ship.  The  assem- 
bly was  formed ;  the  torches  held  aloft,  lighted  up 
the  scene  made  brilliant  by  the  reflections  from  the 
glittering  stalactites  and  stalagmites.  I  was  ap- 
pointed orator,  and  my  speech  was  short.    I  said : — 

This  column  and  that  stalactite,  in  the  Caverns  of  Luray, 
are  dedicated  to  Dr.  Joseph  Leidy.  From  now  on  they 
■will  be  known  as  the  Leidy  Column  and  the  Leidy  Stalac- 
tite. May  they  thus  aid  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  one 
who,  holding  "communion  with  the  visible  forms  of  na- 
ture," has  so  learned  to  interpret  her  grand  simplicity  that 
to  hear  him  is  to  understand. 

(31  ) 


Miss  Ally  did  her  part  beautifully.  The  doctor 
made  a  few  remarks,  stating  that  he  could  not 
have  been  more  highly  honored  than  in  having 
such  grand  objects  named  after  him.  (By  the 
way,  I  should  have  stated  that  the  purposes  of  the 
expedition  were  until  this  moment  most  success- 
fully kept  from  the  knowledge  of  the  doctor.) 

Quite  different  was  the  account  of  the  cere- 
monies given  outside  by  one  of  the  young  natives. 
We  had  it  from  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  party, 
who,  having  been  in  the  cave  before,  did  not  go 
in  now,  but  stayed  outside  upon  the  sunny  porch. 
Her  narrative  amused  Dr.  Leidy  hugely,  both 
for  itself  as  well  as  for  the  racial  peculiarities 
which  it  showed. 

About  the  entrance  to  the  cave  was  a  tribe 
of  little  darkies,  mostly  of  pure  blood.  They 
blacked  the  boots  and  brushed  the  clothes  of 
the  visitors,  for  going  into  the  cave  is  not  a 
clean  matter.  Among  them,  however,  was  one 
very  light  mulatto,  almost  white,  who  went  in 
with  the  party  to  see  all  that  was  to  be  seen,  and 
he  ran  out  ahead  to  join  his  fellows  after  the  cere- 
monies were  over.  The  lady  said,  "  I  know  all 
about  it ;  I've  been  listening  to  that  little  fellow 
who  has  been  telling  the  others  what  he  saw  and 
(32) 


heard.  '  Great  doin's  in  dar/  he  said  ;  '  I  runned 
out  to  tell  you'uns  bout  it.  Dey  all  got  togeder  ia 
de  big  room,  whar  de  big  pillars  is.  De  young  misse 
hab  a  bottle  full  ob  de  cabe  water.  One  genlra'n 
said  suffin,  anoder  genlm'n  said  suffin,  den  dey  all 
look  solem  like.  Now,  bust  your  bottle,  says  one 
ob  de  genlm'n,  says  he,  and  de  misse  bust  de 
bottle,  and  name  de  pillar  fur  de  genlm'n.'  " 

All  were  delighted  with  this  description,  and 
the  ladies  at  once  began  to  throw  nickels  and 
pennies  to  the  boys  who  were  down  on  the  ground 
at  the  foot  of  the  porch.  The  mulatto  now  began 
antics  in  every  shape ;  he  threw  wheels,  and  sum- 
mersaults, and  started  everything  prehensile  in 
his  body,  even  to  his  toes,  and  picked  up  by  far 
most  of  the  cash,  showing  that  he  was  much 
sharper  thail  his  more  deeply  colored  companions. 

The  excursion  was  extended  to  the  Natural 
Bridge.  Dr.  Leidy  said,  I  remember,  that  he  had 
travelled  much  both  at  home  and  abroad,  had 
seen  many  noted  fine  things,  but  he  thought  that 
the  Natural  Bridge  and  Niagara  Falls  were  the 
two  grandest  single  objects  in  nature  that  he  had 
yet  seen  or  heard  of.  The  Falls  are  known  the 
world  over;  the  Bridge  is  not  nearly  so  well 
known,  as  it  deserves  to  be. 

(  33  ) 


Dr.  Leidy  has  by  no  means  been  forgotten  in 
dedications  of  grand  natural  objects  to  his  memory. 

Projecting  into  the  solitudes  of  the  icy  northern 
seas  from  the  east  coast  of  Grinnell  Land,  the 
highest  known  land  of  the  globe,  in  latitude  79° 
45'  north,  are  two  prominent  capes  bounding  a 
bay  between  them.  Drs.  Elisha  Kent  Kane  and 
Isaac  I.  Hayes  discovered  and  named  these  in  the 
famous  expedition  of  1854-5.  They  were  faith- 
ful to  their  alma  mater,  for  one  was  christened  after 
their  beloved  friend  and  promising  young  natu- 
ralist. Cape  Joseph  Leidy,  and  the  other  after  the 
learned  and  genial  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the 
Arts  Department,  Cape  John  Frazer.  There  was 
no  need  of  bottles  of  water  at  these  baptisms,  for 
the  breakers  of  those  seas,  except  when  stilled  by 
ice,  are  eternally  dashing  on  its  shores.  Thus 
you  see  the  old  University  is  remembered,  through 
its  professors  and  her  alumni,  even  where  the  foot 
of  man  has  rarely  trod. 

On  the  western  slope  of  the  Rockies,  between 
43°  and  44°  of  N.  latitude,  and  110°  and  111°  of 
W.  longitude,  south  of  the  Great  National  Park, 
in  the  State  of  Wyoming,  stands  Mount  Leidy. 
It  was  named  by  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden,  the  distin- 
guished explorer  and  geologist,  in  honor  of  his 
(  34) 


treasured  friend.  We,  of  the  Biological  Club,  re- 
call with  the  greatest  pleasure  our  meetings  from 
time  to  time  with  Dr.  Hayden  as  a  welcome  guest. 
Senator  Penrose  tells  me  that,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Tetons,  Mount  Leidy  is  the  finest  object  in 
the  neighborhood,  snow-capped  and  rising  in  soli- 
tary grandeur  above  the  plain.  This  past  summer 
he  hunted  over  it  with  great  satisfaction.  By  the 
way,  I  must  tell  you  that  a  recent  graduate  of  the 
University,  and  afterward  a  resident  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital,  is  now  Governor  of  Wyoming, 
Dr.  Barber.  Thus,  Dr.  Leidy,  who  has  erected  a 
monument  for  himself  more  enduring  than  brass, 
has  had  his  name  impressed  by  loving  friends 
deeply  under  the  soil,  as  at  Luray ;  high  in  the 
Arctic  regions,  as  by  Kane  and  Hayes ;  and  in  the 
wilds  of  Wyoming,  as  by  Hayden.  What  his  own 
community  at  home  will  do  to  perpetuate  his 
memory  remains  to  be  seen. 

Leidy  was  nothing  if  not  Darwinian.  He  was 
a  firm  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  natural 
selection,  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  Dr.  Chap- 
man has,  in  his  memoir,  given  a  quotation  from 
Dr.  Leidy  before  Darwin's  Origin  of  Species  ap- 
peared, foreshadowing  the  same  ideas. 

Of  course,  the  credit  of  fixing  an  idea  through 

(  35  ) 


experiment  and  observation  remains,  as  it  should 
do,  with  the  fixer,  but  as  in  almost  everything  we 
find  that  the  same  ideas  have  dominated  other 
minds.  In  my  reading  last  winter  I  came  across 
two  passages  from  Addison  which  I  copied  fi^r  Dr. 
Leidy.  He  was  greatly  surprised,  and  put  them 
carefully  away,  to  use  at  some  lecture  this  winter. 
Alas !  we  shall  never  hear  of  them  through  him. 

Who  would  have  thought  of  the  great  essayist 
and  poet  being  a  Darwinian  ?  He  says,  in  paper 
120  of  The  Spectator,  "  My  friend.  Sir  Eoger, 
is  very  often  merry  with  me  upon  my  passing  so 
much  of  my  time  among  his  poultry.  He  has 
caught  me  twice  or  thrice  looking  at  a  bird's 
nest,  and  several  times  sitting  an  hour  or  two 
together  looking  at  a  hen  and  chickens.  He 
tells  me  he  believes  I  am  personally  acquainted 
with  every  fowl  about  his  house ;  calls  such  a  par- 
ticular cock  my  favorite  ;  and  frequently  complains 
that  his  ducks  and  geese  have  more  of  my  company 
than  himself  I  must  confess  I  am  infinitely  de- 
lighted with  those  speculations  of  nature  which  are 
to  be  made  in  a  country  life ;  and  as  my  reading 
has  very  much  lain  among  books  of  natural  history, 
I  cannot  forbear  recollecting  upon  this  occasion 
the  several  remarks  which  I  have  met  with  in 
(  36  ) 


authors  and  comparing  them  with  what  falls  under 
my  own  observation,  the  arguments  for  Providence 
drawn  from  the  natural  history  of  animals  being, 
in  my  opinion,  demonstrative."  Addison  became 
more  of  an  evolutionist,  and  it  is  in  paper  519  that 
the  true  Darwinian  thought  is  most  felicitously 
given.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Johnson  said,  "  Who 
wishes  to  attain  an  English  style  familiar,  but  not 
coarse,  and  elegant  but  not  ostentatious,  must  give 
his  days  and  nights  to  the  volumes  of  Addison." 
Mark  the  last  passage  of  the  following  quotation  ; 
Dr.  Leidy  enjoyed  it  much :  "  There  are  some 
living  creatures  which  are  raised  just  above  dead 
matter.  To  mention  only  that  species  of  shell-fish 
which  are  formed  in  the  fashion  of  a  cone,  that 
grow  to  the  surface  of  several  rocks,  and  immedi- 
ately die  upon  being  severed  from  the  place  upon 
which  they  grow.  There  are  many  other  creatures 
but  one  remove  from  these  which  have  no  other 
sense  besides  that  of  feeling  and  taste,  others  have 
still  an  additional  one  of  hearing ;  others  of  smell 
and  others  of  sight. 

"  It  is  wonderful  to  observe  by  what  a  gradual 
progress  the  world  of  life  advances  through  a 
prodigious  variety  of  species  before  a  creature  is 
formed  that  is  complete  in  all  its  senses  ;  and  even 

(  37  ) 


among  these  there  is  such  a  different  degree  of 
perfection  in  the  sense  which  one  animal  enjoys 
beyond  what  appears  in  another  that,  though  the 
sense  in  different  animals  be  distinguished  by  the 
same  common  denomination,  it  seems  almost  of  a 
different  nature.  If  after  this  we  look  into  the 
several  inward  perfections  of  cunning  and  sa- 
gacity, or  what  we  generally  call  instinct,  we  find 
them  rising  after  the  same  manner  imperceptibly 
one  above  another,  according  to  the  species  in 
which  they  are  implanted.  This  progress  in 
nature  is  so  very  gradual  that  the  most  perfect  of  an 
inferior  species  comes  very  near  to  the  most  imper- 
fect of  that  which  is  immediately  above  it.''  How 
like  Darwin  in  the  first  extract,  making  observa- 
tions at  home  among  homely  animals !  How  very 
like  him  in  the  last,  making,  to  my  mind,  deduc- 
tions fully  in  accord  with  the  doctrine  of  evolution  ! 

Now  Addison  was  born  in  1672  and  died  in 
1719.  Lamarck,  the  great  French  naturalist, 
who  was  closely  on  the  track  of  Darwin,  was 
born  in  1744  and  died  in  1829  ;  and  Darwin  him- 
self was  born  in  1809  and  died  in  1882.  So  the 
poet  and  man  of  letters  preceded  the  others  for 
many  years  in  the  same  line  of  thought. 

Any  thing  from  the  smallest  to  the  greatest 
(  38  ) 


that  bore  upon  the  theory  of  evolution  interested 
Dr.  Lcidy  extremely.  This  walking-stick  [show- 
ing stick]  greatly  awakened  his  interest.  It  M^as 
brought  from  abroad  by  a  friend  of  mine  and 
given  to  me  on  the  condition  that  it  must  be  first 
shown  to  Dr.  Leidy,  and  if  he  could  not  tell  what 
it  was  I  would  be  told.  I  saw  that  it  was  herba- 
ceous and  said  so.  Dr.  Leidy  was  puzzled  for 
once,  and  got  no  further  in  a  diagnosis,  where- 
upon I  wrote  to  my  friend,  and  he  answered, 
telling  what  the  cane  is.  It  is  a  strip  or  shoot  of 
the  wild  cabbage.  The  cabbages  (genus  Brassica) 
are  originally  sea  plants.  Among  other  places 
near  the  sea  this  wild  form  grows  upon  the  Chan- 
nel Islands,  and  sometimes  at  certain  stages  it 
sends  up  these  shoots.  Those  fit  for  walking- 
sticks  are  selected  by  the  natives  and  sold  as 
curiosities.  So  I  learnedly  write  to  Dr.  Leidy  an 
extract  from  Knight's  Eucyclopsedia  (the  writer 
must  have  been  a  good  Darwinian)  :  "  This  glau- 
cous plant  has  a  somewhat  woody  stem,  having 
but  slender  likeness  to  its  cultivated  progeny ; 
and  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  by  what  original 
discoverer  the  species  was  brought  under  the 
influence  of  domestication  so  as  to  have  been 
prepared  for  the  numerous  changes  and  improve- 

(39) 


ments  it  had  to  undergo  before  the  races  of  cab- 
bages, savoys,  borecoles,  cauliflowers,  and  broc- 
colis  could  have  been  produced."  I  received  this 
answer : — 

Dear  De.  Hunt  :  I  am  not  surprised  to  hear 
the  cane  is  from  the  "  wild  cabbage,"  which  I  had 
never  seen,  nor  would  I  have  guessed  its  origin. 
A  number  of  cultivated  plants  which  are  tender 
and  succulent  are  woody  in  the  wild  condition, 
instance  the  root  of  the  carrot,  etc.  Do  not  the 
many  varieties  of  cabbage  you  mention  favor  the 
evolution  theory  ? 

Yours  respectfully, 

Joseph  Leidy. 

The  doctor's  singleness  of  purpose  in  his  devo- 
tion to  science,  no  matter  what  might  be  the  asso- 
ciations, is  illustrated  in  the  following  incident  for 
which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Burk,  our  secretary,  is  re- 
sponsible. Burk  and  Leidy  met  in  a  street  car. 
They  sat  down  together  and  Leidy  began  at  once  : 
"  I  have  wanted  to  see  you,  to  know  if  you  still 
keep  your  little  church  in  the  country."  Burk 
answered  solemnly,  "  Yes,  I  am  still  able  to  retain 
it."  Burk  was  surprised,  for  he  thought  that 
Leidy  had  experienced  a  change  and  was  about 
opening  a  conversation  on  the  soul's  state  of  the 
average  Jerseyman.     Now,  it  so  happens,  that  Mr. 

(40) 


Burk's  church  and  residence  are  in  a  neighbor- 
hood where  there  are  marl  pits,  and  in  those  having 
water  in  them,  a  large  thin-shelled  mussel,  or  unio, 
grows  which  is  very  interesting,  as  to  its  origin 
and  mode  of  development  in  that  place.  So  this 
was  the  Jerseyman  that  Dr.  Leidy  was  after,  and, 
with  a  pause  showing  much  relief,  he  said,  "  I  am 
very  glad,  indeed,  to  hear  that  you  still  have  the 
church — very  glad.  You  will  keep  your  eye  on 
that  unio  fragilis,  I  hope." 

How  fond  Dr.  Leidy  was  of  gems !  He  knew 
as  much  or  more  about  them  than  the  most  finished 
jewellers.  He  had  quite  a  valuable  collection  of 
them  which  he  sold  some  time  before  his  death. 
His  liking  for  them  came  not  only  from  their  in- 
trinsic beauty,  but  because  they  were  natural  ob- 
jects, and  for  all  such  objects  we  have  seen  that  his 
appetite  was  omnivorous. 

Various  stories  are  told  of  ladies  driving  to  the 
doctor's  house  in  order  to  get  his  judgment  upon 
diamonds,  rubies,  sapphires,  and  other  precious 
stones  before  purchasing,  and  he  always  gave  the 
information  unerringly  and  was  amused  at  the  fees 
tendered  by  the  callers  who  innocently  thought  it 
was  his  business. 

A  gentleman  told  me  that  a  few  days  after  the 

(41  ) 


doctor's  death  he  was  in  a  shop  kept  by  a  lapidary 
quite  learned  in  his  calling.  A  stranger  to  my 
friend  came  in,  and  the  lapidary  asked  him  if  he 
knew  what  a  certain  fine  stone  was.  The  stranger 
answered  he  did  not,  and  the  lapidary  said,  "I 
also  don't  know.  Ah  !  there  was  only  one  man  who 
could  have  told  you  what  it  is,  but  he  is  dead." 

Dr.  Leidy  was  a  giant  in  intellect,  a  saint  in 
disposition.  I  often  marvel  at  what  the  world 
calls  greatness.  Who  understands  the  mystery  of 
why  he  who  constructs  a  gun,  or  invents  a  shell 
which  will  kill,  crush,  and  mangle  more  at  a  shot, 
than  the  gun  that  was  in  use  the  year  before,  is 
enriched,  ennobled,  and  glorified,  and  made  the 
associate  of  princes,  whilst  the  practical  dis- 
coverers of  ansesthesia  died  in  poverty  and  neglect  ? 
Who  of  you  would  not  rather  have  his  name  asso- 
ciated in  the  humblest  way  with  the  introducers  of 
that  great  boon  to  humanity,  than  to  have  all  the 
wealth  won  from  guns,  and  shot,  and  shell  ?  It  is 
truly  a  mystery !  It  seems  to  be  more  praise- 
worthy to  destroy  than  to  save,  "  Aus  Finsterniss 
zum  lAcht,  durch  Blut,"  is  the  grim  legend  of  the 
black,  white,  and  red  Prussian  flag — out  of  dark- 
ness into  light,  through  blood  ! — and  this  seems 
to  be  an  epitome  of  the  history  of  the  world's 
(  42) 


progress.  Leidy  rightly  called  it  a  process  of 
evolution.  The  thoroughly  subdued  races  and 
tribes,  "  the  dead  nations,  never  rise  again ;"  they 
make  the  paleontology  of  peoples!  The  conqueror 
moves  on  a  higher  plane,  and  adds  in  time  some- 
thing to  the  general  good ;  surely  it  is  a  mystery  ! 
Is  war  then  the  natural  state  of  man  ?  We  who 
are  old  enough  to  have  participated  in  it,  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  and  to  have  heard  and  seen  its 
"  loud  lament  and  dismal  miserere,"  want  no  more 
of  it,  but  we  fondly  look  forward  to  a  realization, 
however  remote,  of  what  Love  says  to  Death  in 
the  fine  sonnet  of  Tennyson,  which,  I  know  from 
conversations,  expresses  the  hopes   and  views   of 

Dr.  Leidy : — 

"This  hour  is  thine  : 
Thou  art  the  shadow  of  life,  and  as  the  tree 
Stands  in  the  sun  and  shadows  all  beneath, 
So  in  the  light  of  great  eternity, 
Life  eminent  creates  the  shade  of  death ; 
The  shadow  passeth,  when  the  tree  shall  fall, 
But  /shall  reign  forever  over  aU," 

And  thus  our  Leidy  passed  through  life,  with 
peace  and  love  in  his  heart,  leaving  to  us  who 
honored  him  for  his  intellect,  and  loved  him  for 
the  gentleness  that  made  him  great,  the  right  to 
laud  him  as  a  beacon  light  of  science  ! 

(  43  ) 


In  il\emoriam. 


DR.  JOSEPH    LEIDY 

B.  Sept.  9,  1823.  D.  April  30,  1891. 


PERSONAL  HISTORY. 


BY 
WILLIAM  HUKT,  M.D. 


READ  AT  THE  ACABE3IY  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCES, 
MAY  12,  1891. 


acairtm^  of  Natural  Ztinxtts  of  ^ttlabHpfiia. 

Logan  Square,  May  7, 1891. 
A  MEETING  in  commemoration  of  Joseph  Leidy, 
M.D.,  LL.D.,  the  late  President  of  the  Society,  will 
be  held  in  the  Hall  of  the  Academy,  Tuesday,  the 
12th  inst.,  at  8  P.M.  Addresses  will  be  made  as 
follows : — 

William  Hunt,  M.D.,  "  Personal  History." 
Harrison    Allen,   M.D.,    "Work    in    Vertebrate 

Anatomy." 
Henry  C.  Chapman,  M.D.,  "  Work  in  Invertebrate 

Anatomy." 
Prof.  Angelo  Heilprin,  "Work  in  Paleontology 

and  Geology." 
Joseph  Willcox,  "  Work  in  Mineralogy." 
James  Darrach,  M.D.,  "Work  in  Botany." 
Edward  J.  Nolan,  M.D.,  "  Personal  Character  and 

Services  to  the  Academy." 

It  is  expected  that  further  remarks  will  be  made 

by  other  members. 

Edward  J.  ISTolan, 

Recording  Secretary. 

The   meeting  was  large,  and  attended  both  by 
men  and  women.     It  was  a  most  remarkable  occa- 

(47) 


sion.  The  originals  of  the  addresses,  which  were 
limited  to  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  each,  are  pre- 
served in  the  archives  of  the  Academy. 

Dr.  Henry  C.  Chapman  has  been  appointed  to 
write  a  full  memoir  of  this  great  student  of  nature, 
which  will  be  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Academy.  / 

W.  H. 


(  48  ) 


Kn  JHemovfam* 


DR.    JOSEPH    LEIDY. 

By  WILLIAM  HUNT,  M.D. 

It  is  fitting  that  we  imagine  the  beloved  subject 
of  our  discourses  this  evening  to  be  with  us  in 
spirit,  as  he  doubtless  is  in  influence,  and  to  let 
him  introduce  himself,  as  I  heard  him  do  in  Asso- 
ciation Hall  some  years  ago,  where  he  was  about 
to  give  a  popular  lecture.  I  was  unexpectedly 
called  upon  to  introduce  him:  "What!"  said  I. 
"  Who  is  to  introduce  the  introducer  ?  Here  's  a 
man  more  widely  known  to  the  city  and  to  the 
world  than  any  of  us  ! "  Dr.  Leidy,  hearing  the 
conversation,  said  :  "  Oh  !  Dr.  Hunt,  keep  your 
seat ;  I  don't  wish  to  be  introduced  ;  I'll  introduce 
myself."  And,  stepping  to  the  rostrum,  he  spoke 
in  this  way : 

"  My  name  is  Joseph  Leidy,  doctor  of  medicine. 
I  was  born  in  this  city  on  the  9th  of  September, 
1823,  and   I   have  lived  here  ever  since.     My 

(49  ) 


father  was  Philip  Leidy,  the  hatter,  on  Third 
Street,  above  Vine.  My  mother  was  Catharine 
Mellick,  but  she  died  a  few  months  after  my  birth. 
My  father  married  her  sister,  Christina  Mellick, 
and,  she  was  the  mother  I  have  known,  who  was 
all  in  all  to  me,  the  one  to  whom  I  owe  all  that 
I  am.  At  an  early  age  I  took  great  delight  in 
natural  history,  and  in  noticing  all  natural  objects. 
I  have  reason  to  think  that  I  know  a  little  of  natural 
history,  and  a  little  of  that  little  I  propose  to  teach 
you  to-night." 

This,  of  course,  brought  down  the  house.  I 
never  heard  such  a  good  introduction ;  but  I 
little  thought  that  the  incident  would  serve 
me  to  introduce  him  on  this  mournful  occa- 
sion. 

"When  a  boy,  so  great  was  his  love  for  the 
country  that  it  was  difficult  to  keep  him  at  school. 
He  took  every  opportunity  for  a  run  or  walk  in 
the  fields,  and  is  said  to  have  left  school  without 
permission  for  this  purpose.  His  mother  employed 
a  colored  attendant  to  look  after  him,  for  off  he 
would  go  if  he  could,  and  he  took  the  chances  of 
punishment  or  reproof  at  home.  When  ten  years 
old  he  sketched  pictures  of  natural  objects.  A 
book  of  sketches  of  shells,  made  when  he  was 
(  50  ) 


twelve,  is  in  the  possession  of  his  nephew,  Dr. 
Joseph  Leidy,  Jr. 

Dr.  Leidy's  mother  was  intelligent,  ambitious, 
and  literary.  She  regarded  a  good  education  as 
the  best  heritage  for  her  children.  She  wished  her 
sons  to  study  the  professions.  I  saw  her  once, 
and  I  remember  her  as  a  noble-lookino-  woman. 

It  is  well  that  she  was  the  ruling  spirit,  for  the 
father,  I  am  told,  had  rather  a  contempt  for  pro- 
fessional men,  and  wished  his  sons  to  learn  trades. 
Noticing  Joseph's  facility  with  the  pencil,  he  wished 
him  to  be  an  artist.  The  mother's  wishes,  how- 
ever, prevailed ;  but  the  father  was  not  wholly  con- 
vinced of  the  correctness  of  her  judgment  until 
years  after. 

She  had  several  sons,  and  when  the  war  came 
she  decided  that  all  should  go.  Even  the  doctor 
took  his'part,  and  became  an  acting  surgeon  of  the 
U.  S.  Army.  He  was  assigned  to  hospital  duty, 
and  was  chiefly  occupied  in  the  study  and  prepara- 
tion of  pathological  specimens.  The  Army  Medical 
Museum  at  Washington  contains  some  of  these, 
which  are  fully  described  in  its  records. 

Dr.  Leidy  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  1840, 
and  graduated  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
in  1844.     His  graduating  thesis  showed  the  bent 

(51  ) 


of  his  mind.  It  was  upon  the  "Comparative 
Anatomy  of  the  Eye  of  Vertebrated  Animals." 
He  became  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the 
Franklin  Medical  College,  to  which  new  institu- 
tion he  was  no  doubt  attracted  by  the  genius  and 
reputation  of  Dr.  Paul  B.  Goddard,  who  was  his 
preceptor.  He  gave  lectures  on  Microscopic  Anat- 
omy. His  advance  now  was  rapid,  for,  in  1852, 
when  it  was  necessary  at  the  University  to  appoint 
an  assistant  for  Dr.  Horner,  whose  health  was 
failing.  Dr.  Leidy  was  chosen  for  the  place.  Dr. 
Horner  died  soon  after ;  and  in  1853  Dr.  Leidy 
was  elected  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  when  he  was  in  the 
thirtieth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  holding  this 
position  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and,  therefore, 
held  it  for  thirty-eight  years.  In  1 8 54  he  appointed 
me  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the  University, 
and  thus,  by  this  choice,  I  was  for  ten  years, 
during  the  sessions  at  least,  necessarily  brought 
into  daily  intercourse  with  him,  which  intercourse 
ripened  into  loving  and  lasting  companionship. 
During  all  this  association  I  never  had  an  un- 
pleasant word  with  him  ;  and  yet  he  could  be 
indignant,  but  his  indignations  were  with  ideas 
and  not  with  persons. 
(  52) 


This  angelic  amiability  never  for  a  moment 
brought  disrespect;  there  was  a  dignity  with  it  that 
mastered  all.  I  cannot  recall  a  single  attempt  to 
play  a  student's  trick  upon  him ;  and  I  never  saw 
upon  the  walls  or  in  the  class-rooms  any  ridicule 
of  him,  either  in  doggerel  or  in  drawing.  The 
stories  told  of  him  were  all  beauties,  or  marvels  at 
his  wondrous  learning,  or  at  what  he  could  do 
with  his  eyes,  his  hands,  and  his  microscope. 

Dr.  Leidy  taught  pure  anatomy ;  others  of  us 
applied  the  knowledge  he  gave.  This  was  all  he 
said  he  would  do,  or  engage  to  do.  I  mention  this 
for  you  who  are  not  familiar  with  such  matters. 
Think  of  this  !  Could  a  man  enjoy  higher  praise 
than  to  know  that  for  thirty-eight  years  he  filled 
without  objection  a  practical  chair  in  an  essentially 
practical  school  for  science,  and  science  alone? 
In  all  that  time,  no  jealous  aspirant  even  whis- 
pered, "This  chair  must  be  practically  filled." 
The  lustre  he  threw  upon  the  University  dimmed 
or  quenched  all  jealousies  by  its  brightness.  Pro- 
fessors, students,  and  all,  behold  how  they  loved 
him ! 

The  personal  history  of  Dr.  Leidy  is  all  that 
has  been  assigned  me  to  talk  about  for  these  few 

(53  ) 


minutes ;  and,  therefore,  I  leave  to  others  the  task 
of  speaking  of  his  University  scientific  career. 

Such  a  pronounced  character  could  not  but  have 
its  peculiarities.  He  was  emotional  to  a  degree. 
Music  and  the  gentler  sentiments  stirred  him 
deeply.  If  I  were  talking  of  a  dear  friend  of  his 
in  his  presence,  as  I  am  now  talking  of  him,  his 
eyes  would  be  brimful  of  tears  at  the  thoughts  of 
that  friend.  Yet  he  professed  to  dislike  poetry, 
and  could  not  understand  how  we  enjoyed  the 
"  rhyming  stuff."  At  the  Biological  Club,  a  social 
organization  of  which  he  was  President,  he  would 
sit  at  table  either  amused  or  absent-minded  or  lost 
in  thought  whilst  poetical  recitations  were  being 
given.  Whilst,  then,  he  did  not  read  poetry  in 
general,  some  of  it  touched  him  deeply.  Whit- 
tier's  poem,  "  The  Prayer  of  Agassiz,"  a  "  word- 
less prayer"  upon  the  opening  of  the  Anderson 
School  of  Natural  History,  at  Penikese,  stirred 
him  and  pleased  him  wonderfully ;  over  and  over 
he  read  it,  and  spoke  of  it  again  and  again.  He 
greatly  admired  the  "Chambered  jSTautilus"  of 
Holmes.  I  recommended  him  to  read  the  "  Than- 
atopsis,"  which  he  had  never  done,  and  that  grand 
poem  also,  as  Friends  say,  "met  the  witness 
within."  The  motion  of  the  hidden  fire  was  there, 
{  54) 


and,  I  have  no  doubt,  at  times  trembled  in  his 
breast.  I  am  reminded,  through  speaking  of  the 
"  wordless  prayer,"  how  Leidy's  connection  with 
Swarthmore  brought  him  in  contact  with  Friends, 
and  he  frequently  spoke  in  admiration  of  the  sim- 
plicity of  their  ways  and  then-  methods  of  worship. 

To  any  analyzer  of  mind,  it  would  be  rather 
absurd  to  say  that  this  lover  of  flowers  and  fields 
and  woods  and  brooks,  this  man  who  gloated  over 
jewels  and  named  some  of  his  pretty  polyps  after 
beautiful  women,  had  no  poetry  in  his  soul. 

The  imagination,  in  fact,  properly  directed,  is  a 
handmaid  of  science.  I  have  elsewhere  said  that 
the  great  Goethe,  one  of  the  early  leaders  of  scien- 
tific thought,  mixed  science  and  poetry  in  the  same 
crucible,  and,  subjecting  it  to  the  heat  of  his 
imagination,  poured  out  immortal  ingots. 

Leidy  admitted  this,  but  insisted  on  the  proper 
direction  towards  Nature's  facts,  and  not  towards 
unreasoning  or  grotesque  fancies.  The  conven- 
tional angel,  for  example,  being  a  six-limbed 
mammal,  was  an  impossibility  for  him,  and  he 
marvelled  how  it  had  been  perpetuated  from  time 
immemorial  by  artists,  sculptors,  and  the  Church. 

Dr.  Leidy  wrecked  more  mare's-nests  than  any 
man  I  ever  heard  of.     It  would  take  a  volume  to 

(  55  ) 


record  the  wonderful  discoveries  and  the  more 
wonderful  specimens  that  were  reported  or  brought 
to  him  almost  daily,  either  personally  or  by  mail. 
Petrified  eggs,  and  tumors  of  orange  pulp,  and 
living  worms  of  the  same  material  were  common 
incidents.  New  old  animals,  unknown  minerals, 
mostly  artificial,  invaluable  jewels,  mostly  of  no 
value  at  all,  and  cures  for  all  evils  were  presented 
for  his  opinion,  his  inspection,  his  name  and 
patronage. 

The  quick  and  quiet  way  with  which  he  would 
expose  these  wonders  and  treasures  was  a  sight  to 
see.  And  yet  he  did  it  with  a  grace  and  ease  that 
had  no  pretension  about  it,  so  that  the  disappointed 
visitor  went  away  under  no  provocation,  but  simply 
a  sadder  and  a  wiser  man. 

When  anything  really  new  was  brought  for  his 
opinion  he  was  much  interested  and  most  gracious. 

It  was  by  no  means  always  the  ignorant  who 
were  confounded.  Many  of  us  have  heard  him  tell 
with  glee  of  the  incident  (I  think  at  Charleston, 
S.  C.)  where  he  was  entertained  at  dinner  by  emi- 
nent scientific  men.  One  of  the  luxuries  was  the 
tail  of  a  drumfish,  and  even  it  had  its  tidbit,  or 
choice  part  with  the  epicures,  in  the  shape  of  a 
peculiar  gelatinous  mass.  A  part  of  this  was 
(  56  ) 


helj)ed  with  high  praise  to  Dr.  Leidy.  He  ate  it, 
but  his  suspicions  were  aroused.  He  confirmed 
the  truth  of  them  fully  by  going  to  market  next 
morning  and  examining  a  drumfish's  tail.  He 
found  that  the  choice  part  was  a  huge  parasite 
which,  I  think,  he  afterwards  described.  As  the 
piece  was  well  cooked,  he  said  the  eating  of  it  did 
no  harm. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  caught  himself  (which 
rarely  happened),  he  behaved  beautifully.  I  re- 
member walking  with  him  along  the  grassy  path 
by  the  seaside,  at  Bar  Harbor,  one  summer  day. 
We  were  on  our  M^ay  to  visit  a  Philadelphia  lady 
who  was  herself  an  amateur  botanist,  and  particu- 
larly well  acquainted  with  the  region  about  us. 
Suddenly,  Dr.  Leidy  said,  raising  his  hands, 
"  Dear  me  !  There  is  a  plant  which  Gray  says  only 
grows  high  on  the  mountains,  and  here  it  is  by  the 
sea."  He  gathered  a  portion  of  it  with  great  care 
and  put  it  in  his  pocket.     When  he  got  to  the 

house  he  spoke  of  his  find,  and  showed  Mrs. 

the  specimen.  "  Why,  doctor,"  she  said,  "  that  is 
MnpetrumJ'  The  doctor  looked  carefully  at  it 
and  said,  ''  Why,  so  it  is ;  I  thought  it  was  Loise- 
leuria,'^  and  he  laughed  heartily,  receiving  the  cor- 
rection as  though  it  had  come  from  Gray  himself. 

(57) 


Dr.  Leidy  loved  dearly  the  company  of  his 
friends,  in  a  social  way.  Besides  presiding  at  the 
Biological  Club,  he  was  a  Director  of  the  old  Con- 
tributionship  on  Fourth  Street,  and  enjoyed  the 
monthly  meetings  very  much. 

His  place  at  table  was  always  a  point  of  interest, 
and  many  regarded  it  as  a  privilege  to  sit  near  him, 
so  attractive  was  his  instructive  conversation,  and 
so  frequent  were  the  appeals  made  to  him  from  all 
sides  for  information.  The  late  lamented  Sydney 
Biddle,  the  youngest  member  of  our  Club,  Dr. 
Leidy  told  me,  with  much  feeling,  made  the  request 
at  my  house  that  at  the  next  meeting  he  might 
have  the  privilege  of  sitting  by  him.  Both  now 
are  gone ! 

In  person  Dr.  Leidy  was  a  blonde,  of  medium 
height  and  stout  frame.  He  wore  a  full  beard,  and 
had  fine,  silken,  flowing  hair.  His  forehead  was 
beautiful,  but  by  no  means  pronounced.  His 
almost  straight  brows  overhung  rather  deeply  set, 
very  thoughtful,  and  somewhat  pensive  blue  eyes. 
His  nose  was  of  the  aquiline  order  and  finely  cut. 
His  mouth,  medium  in  size,  with  flexible,  well- 
formed  lips  backed  by  fine  teeth,  had  great  range 
of  expression. 

In   early   manhood   Dr.   Leidy's   face   bore   a 
C  58  ) 


striking  likeness  to  the  familiar  pictures  of  the 
Saviour,  and  several  pretty  stories  are  told  of  con- 
fiding little  children  coming  unto  him  attracted  by 
the  resemblance.  One  of  these  I  have  direct. 
The  doctor  was  being  entertained  one  Sunday  in 
the  country  by  a  former  member  of  this  Academy, 
now  dead.  The  company  started  out  for  a 
walk.  A  little  daughter  of  the  host  joined  them 
and  walked  with  her  father ;  suddenly  she  broke 
away  and  ran  over  the  grass  in  chase  of  a  butter- 
fly. After  much  exertion  she  caught  it,  brought 
it  back  to  the  company,  and  whispered  in  her 
father's  ear  that  it  was  for  Jesus  Christ,  and  tim- 
idly gave  it  to  the  doctor. 

In  reviewing  what  I  have  written,  I  see  that  it 
would  be  natural  for  some  one  to  say,  "  You  have 
described  a  perfect  man  !  Had  he  no  faults  ?"  As 
there  is  but  One  all-perfect,  of  course  he  had 
faults,  but  I  do  not  know  them. 

No  one  disbelieves  the  sentimental  "  De  mortuis 
nir  more  than  I  do.  I  have  declaimed  against  it, 
for,  if  it  prevailed,  history  and  biography  would  be 
useless.  In  this  case,  however,  I  can  simply 
repeat,  after  much  thought,  "  I  find  no  fault  in  this 
man." 

The  end  was  approaching.     Dr.  Leidy  worked 

(  59  ) 


through  the  past  session  of  the  University  feeling 
the  mental  and  physical  effects  of  his  labors  more 
and  more.  Frequently  he  sat  down  during  half  of 
his  lecture.  The  examinations  came  on,  and  they 
exhausted  him  greatly.  He  said,  "  The  old  ma- 
chine is  breaking  up." 

About  two  weeks  before  he  died  he  attended  the 
funeral  of  Aubrey  H.  Smith,  also  one  of  the  hon- 
ored members  of  this  Academy.  I  occupied  a  seat 
during  that  "  hour's  communion  with  the  dead," 
which  gave  me  a  full  view  of  the  doctor,  who  sat 
at  one  end  of  a  sofa  near  the  coffin,  his  face  buried 
in  his  hands.  He  was  evidently  in  deep  thought. 
He  left  the  house  and  turned  up  Pine  Street  alone, 
much  bowed  down,  and  possibly  contemplating 
his  own  near  call. 

On  the  Thursday  following  he  took  to  his  bed. 
On  Saturday,  whilst  he  was  still  sensible,  his 
daughter  showed  him  a  sprig  of  Mayflower. 
"  What  beautiful  Epigea .'"  he  said ;  "  do  you  re- 
member what  the  name  means  ?"  He  shortly  after 
lapsed  into  unconsciousness,  which  became  deeper 
and  deeper  until  he  died. 

In  truth,  then,  at  the   close,  he  laid  down  in 
green  pastures. 
(  60  ) 


^w 


A.^\ 


.-,,,-■■4**- 


